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Success Stories

Abdulai Iddrisu’s Success Story

Mr. Abdulai Iddrisu had so much to share with Three Rivers Community Action as he started to tell us about his home-buying experience.

Purchasing a home was so important for this family because it meant being reunited in the United States. Mr. Iddrisu told us that he and his wife Sawdatu had been away from their precious little daughters for seven years! Their two daughters, Neina and Pagnaa, were living back in Africa with their grandmother, but as soon as Mr. Iddrisu closed on a home, he brought his beautiful children to the United States to finally live together as a family. When this happened, Sawdatu hadn’t seen her daughters in 3 years! What a reunion! Purchasing this home and bringing their family together meant the world to the Iddrisu’s.

Mr. Iddrisu explained that there were many reasons they wouldn’t bring their little girls to live in an apartment, such as safety and privacy, so they have been saving and preparing themselves to purchase a home. Mr. Iddrisu started to work at St. Olaf College and Sawdatu is attending college to obtain a nursing degree and working part time. At this stage in their lives, they thought it was finally time to purchase a house to bring their daughters home to!!

When they first started to look for a home, they drove around Northfield, checking out all the neighborhoods and came across the particular home they later purchased. It was still under construction, and never in their dreams did they think that it could eventually become their new home! But then they got approved for a loan, came back to the same area, and found that the house they had seen a while ago was for sale. They fell in love with the home’s location and neighborhood. They had done their homework and made sure that this area offered a good school for their children. They also expressed how wonderful the neighbors have already been with them.

“It’s a great home with three large bedrooms and built in June 2010!! It has a huge basement that someday we could complete and have more room to expand!!”

They also expressed how thankful they were for the assistance they received from Three Rivers Community Action. They felt that Three Rivers really cared about their well being and made sure that they were making the right decisions. Down payment assistance definitely helped too! Abdulai learned a lot from taking the Home Stretch Home Education course, and learned how much he wasn’t aware of, especially the importance of understanding the whole home purchase process.

When they first moved into their home, Sawdatu couldn’t believe that this home finally belonged to them!! They prayed and thanked God for all their blessings. She said the first night was very strange to walking through the house and see all of their personal belongings there, it was a great feeling!!

“After all of our experience, we really would like to let others know that it’s possible to own your home!! That it’s important to have your own home! Find a good realtor, which we found in Paul Reiland, who was very helpful and understanding. It’s important to interview a couple of realtors to make sure you’re working with the right person. Paul helped with our credit, finding the right lender and remained committed throughout the whole process.”

“Buying a home MUST begin with the most important thing: working on your credit! It’s also important to have a plan to open a saving account and label it so that each month you can save a little and be prepared in case you have an emergency. This will help you so that you don’t face foreclosure in the future!!”

“We are very excited and thankful to have such a beautiful home where we now live with our family!!”